I guess it was about four years ago that I had my first Kayak ride. I was in Pennsylvania visiting my brother when I mentioned that I would love to try a kayak. Harold, my brother’s friend, had two, one for himself the other for his wife. Tony contacted Harold. The four of us joined Harold and Helene at a nearby lake. Helene and I got into the kayaks and the others climbed into a motorboat.

The kayaks were sit- in style. At that time I did not know that there was any other type. My sitting down in the kayak was not a pretty sight. Two years earlier I had my right knee re-surfaced. The pain was gone and I can walk fine but sitting gracefully on floor level was and is not possible. I sort of started bending as though to sit and then just flopped down, not graceful but not painful.

Helene and I paddled about twenty minutes across the lake. I loved every minute. The motorboat with the others followed as they enjoyed their outing too. When we got back to the dock about twenty minutes later, Richard wanted to try. Considering that he had a heart attack two weeks earlier I was nervous. We let him get into the kayak and paddle about 30 feet away and back.

Ever since that day I have been working to get my own kayak.

 

I had three of my paintings on wild turkey feathers on display with other members of the Creative Artists Guild at Marguerite's Cafe in Dunedin Florida. The artwork is displayed and is available for sale for a two month period.  One evening I got a call from a woman who said that she had purchased two of my feather paintings. She selected a racoon and a monarch butterfly.

She then asked if I would create a wolf painting as a birthday gift for her daughter. I said I would be happy to paint a wolf. Her daughter's birthday is in July so I will have to get busy. I have already researched some wolf images that I think would work. Next is selecting the feather and sitting down to work.  

I attended my first Alpha Delta Kappa convention this past week-end. It was fun interacting with teachers and retired teachers from all over the state of Florida. Our chapter, Theta was in charge of the Ways and Means room. I had my two books, The Magic Belt and Just Call Me Charlie for sale. I donated $1.00 for each book sold to my chapter as a fund raiser. There were times that it was really hectic. I really appreciated the help of sisters from my chapter as they collected money while I personalized the books with the name of the person receiving the book and a smiling frog face.

Lori, Marie and I were so excited to hear our chapter called to receive a Silver Certificate as A Chapter of Merit.

I had the opportunity to present to out going State President Margaret McLean an art doll that I created specially for her. It was given by all the Florida sisters in appreciation of Margaret's hard work over the past biennium.

I am looking forward to my next ADK convention.

I have to thank my brother Tony for thinking of me as he was driving from East Hampton back toward New York City. He saw a large turkey beside the road. It had been hit by a car. He stopped his car and pulled a variety of feathers from the dead bird.  Tony was thinking about how I love to paint and the fascinating paintings that he saw done on feathers. He was sure I would enjoy the challenge of painting on feathers.

I was not that sure until yesterday when I painted my first two feathers. The first was a mother and baby bear almost nose to nose. The second is a raccoon sitting in the vee of two branches. Before I painted anything I did some internet research. I learned that many birds are protected and their feathers can not be used. Feathers from non migratory birds like turkeys on the other hand can be used.

I think I would like to try a painting of an egret next.  

Now that the holidays are over I am looking forward to visiting more schools with my author/illustrator program. I am developing the letter below to send to schools. Any comments you have will be appreciated. If you know schools that would like my program please let them and me know. At this time I am looking for schools within a hour's drive of my home in Dunedin FL. Schools that are further will be considered but the rate I charge would have to be higher.

   
                                     
My name is Kathy Pollak. I am a retired elementary school teacher with 32 years teaching experience and an author/illustrator of children's picture books. My books were createdd while I was teaching young children that they too can write.

I do an interactive presentation with groups of up to 40 children at a time, talking about writing, illustrating and publishing. My program is best suited to K-5. I would love to visit your school and share with the children the process of writing and illustrating a book from start to finish. I have many interesting visuals (thumb nail sketches, book dummies, original art work and some rough drafts of the books) to keep the students involved and interested. Presentations take from 45 minutes to an hour. A book signing will occurs on the day of the event.

Schools are always looking for educational programs and ways to raise monies. Author Visits usually run several hundred dollars. I charge a nominal fee of $ 100 for any school within an hour's drive of Dunedin FL. I do hope to sell my books. If your organization sells any of my books I will give $ 1.00 for each book sold. Any pre-sold books will be signed in advance.

If I have to handle sales on the day of the event I will accept cash, checks and credit cards. You will still receive a $ 1.00 for each book sold. Tax must be charges. Book orders received for one week after the event on your form will still gain you $ 1.00 per book.

The Magic Belt sells for $ 18.50 and is a 40 page soft cover book. For your program it will be discounted to  
$ 15.95. Juster, the littlest elf is finally old enough to help Santa. But Santa says he must stay behind. When Santa runs into a problem, will Juster save the day?

Just Call Me Charlie sells for $ 9.30 and is a 32 page soft cover book. Just Call Me Charlie is the story of a young frog who thinks he would like to be a prince and the adventure he goes on. A pig frog, native to Florida, was the inspiration for the illustrations. There is a short informational page about pig frogs at the end of the book.

Enclosed are some testimonials I have received after Author Visits.

For more information about me and my books check out my website www.kathypollakbooks.com
If you are interested or want more information please contact me at 727 738-9132 so we set up a date for my presentation.

Sincerely,


Kathy Pollak

This was a busy week-end as we participated in the 32nd Annual Christmas Under the Oaks Arts and Crafts Show in Clearwater, FL. We listened with concern to the weather forecasts of rain, steady winds and cooler temperatures. We took advantage of the opportunity to set our tent up the night before the show.

My husband Richard and I did a practice run in our yard so that we knew where every thing needed to be. Friday night the tent went up quickly and we added weights to the corners. This show does not allow staking because of the watering system. We had sand bags and cement blocks for each of the corners. Usually we were able to position them under a table.

I set out my resin dolls but kept the more fragile polymer dolls in their boxes to be set out when we arrived Saturday morning. All the books were in sealed plastic tubs since we were so close to the water. I knew that the humidity would not be good for them. We left with most of the set-up work done.
 
Saturday morning it was gray and threatening. We took rain jackets, lunch, money for the cash box and piled into a friend Brian's car. Parking was limited near the park and we were going with Brian that evening to a concert at a private home on Clearwater Beach. It started raining as we drove. Richard and I worked quickly to roll the wet sides of our tent up. Rain rolled down the roof and dripped on card table we planned to use for sales area. We moved the table under cover of the roof. 

Happily the rain stopped although it was damp and cool. I placed my new book, Just Call Me Charlie and my first book The Magic Belt on the rack. It was so damp that I kept most of the books in sealed packages, only placing two or three open books in front of each display so that people could look at them. The dolls were out all we needed were customers. The sun came out. It got warmer. The dampness dried up and people started arriving. People stopped in the booth and looked at my dolls and books. Several people took a give away postcard with my web site information. A teacher asked about author visits and took a business card. And finally a lady bought a copy of Just Call Me Charlie for her two year old son named Charlie.

We talked with other exhibitors and got some ideas for protecting our tent form the wind and rain. Clamps like Richard uses for wood working help hold the canvas sides closed. Again I packed the fragile dolls and put the books into the plastic tubs for the night. I wanted to buy some on the way home but Richard said he had some in his workshop.

Sunday morning the weatherman said there would be steady wind at 19 miles an hour with stronger gusts. We wondered if our tent would still be standing. We packed sweaters and jackets and set out. As we walked down the hill to the park we could see that some tents were blown over. I held my breath as we walked the path to our tent. It was still standing. The tent two over from ours was over and broken. Just across form our tent two others were down. Those artists were packing up there things and leaving. The wind was blowing so hard that our taut had "walked" about a foot south. We decided that our only chance was to remove the sides. The sides acted like a sail. We quickly took them down and readjusted the weights. The tent rattled and shook but it stayed up.

I must give thanks and credit to the Clearwater Junior Women's Club for their efforts to save tents and art work. Volunteers were at the park at midnight lowering tents, clipping sides back on and salvaging merchandise. Their dedication was appreciated.

I did not dare to set out the polymer one-of-a-kind dolls. I was surprised that the rack of books did not blow away. I put out even fewer open books so that the wind would not whip the pages. The day was beautiful, sunny but cold for us here in Florida. At the advise of the lady in the tent next to ours we brought the books forward and but the sales table to the back of the booth. We sold five books, a better day than yesterday.

Many artists said that the numbers of people were drastically down. It could be a combination of several things; there was another big craft fair this week-end one town over, the weather was not conducive to browsing and concerns about the economy.

I hope things are better for the show on the Saturday after Thanksgiving.

 

I can't believe that after hours and hours I finally have my web site complete. Today I added a shopping cart feature. I should say my daughter-in-law talked me through the confusing parts . . . which were many. Thank God for Tracy. Richard and I have been working hard to get everythhing in order for the holiday show in mid November. First and formost was hearing from the printers that my second book, Just Call Me Charlie will or should I say might, get to us for the show. As of early this week it looks like the book will arrive on time.

I have had business cards printed and also free handouts. I am working on an print of several art pieces. I have been using an online printer www.clubflyers.com for my work. They provide excellent prices and fast service. It is even possible to get business cards printed for free if you let them put a small tag on the back.

Well now I don't have to worry that my oldest grand
daughter will feel left out. I completed an illustration
of her writing and added it to my "contact me" page
on my web site.


I am heading to NYC for a long weekend. I plan to
stay  with and visit a friend. SHe and I have been
friends since 3rd grade.

I've been working to change the image in the upper left corner of this template. The first time my image was too big. I tried various changes but it still didn't fit. Today if it shows at all it was too small. I ended up tiling the image. If you want to see this image larger go to my web site www.kathypollakbooks.com . This image shows my middle grand child. I am working on an illustration of the older grand child so that she doesn't feel slighted.